Do drug-sniffing dogs pass the smell test?

AUSTIN (KXAN) - It is one of the most powerful weapons local schools have to catch kids doing drugs. Drug dogs can sniff lockers, cars, backpacks and purses without a reason.

KXAN News tagged along on an unannounced visit to Anderson High School with Austin ISD Police Officer Tony Andrew and his drug dog Rocco.

The Golden Retriever was trying to find the five scents his nose is trained to detect: meth, heroine, cocaine, marijuana and gunpowder.

The search does not turn up anything, but the district says its drug-sniffing dogs find something illegal more than half the time.

It's not surprising to Bowie High School sophomore Anna Ambrosino.

"Probably half the school does it," said Anna.

The 16-year-old wanted to surprise her boyfriend with homemade brownies, but the chocolate never made it past first period. During a random classroom search drug dogs picked up on a scent officers thought was pot.

"They said 'did you do anything special to these brownies?' I was like 'no,'" said Anna.

Anna says she was taken to the office and questioned by school police who called her mother.

"She was just totally frightened and they had asked her questions like 'do you do drugs? Does anybody at your home do drugs?'" said Maggie Ambrosino, Anna's mother.

"I tried to tell the policeman what dog wouldn't go for the brownies? He said no, these dogs are trained and there's no way they would ever be attracted to the chocolate."

Police sent the brownies to the lab for testing, but as far as Anna's mother was concerned the damage had been done.

"You can get on Facebook and ruin a kid's reputation in nothing flat by talking about them and I think that it's irresponsible and hurtful to take a child -- a policeman -- to take a child out of a classroom and you don't even know if that child is guilty or innocent," said Maggie.

Anna says it did not take long for news to spread across campus. Some classmates gave her a new nickname: Stoner.

After two and half months, the results were in. And, it turns out, the brownies were drug-free.
  
 "Yeah, it's like tell me something I don't know," said Maggie. "I'd much rather see a social worker in school than a dog walking the halls."

How effective are the dogs?

According to AISD, last school year the K-9's made 211 trips to campuses and detected drugs 138 times. The first semester of school this year, the dogs made 66 campus visits and found drugs 38 times.

Officer Andrew says the brownie situation is extremely unusual, and dogs are not perfect.

"Sometimes dogs have bad days, and that day the dog had a bad day," said Andrew. "We identify that as an issue and that will be fixed."

Rocco is one of two AISD drug dogs. At one time the district had five, but have had to retire a couple recently due to medical issues.

They are hoping to add a new bomb-sniffing dog to the force by next year.

A drug dog can cost the district anywhere from $7,000 to $10,000 each. The expense includes sending the officer off for training with the dog.

The dog and handler are also re-certified every year.

Other local school districts that do not have their own police department call on help from other agencies with drug dogs.

But for Maggie Ambrosino, the focus need to go beyond just busting school children.

"There's a way of going about it that would be more caring and less ridiculing to the child," she said.